To support this regulatory circuit, the negative correlation is observed between miR-204-5p expression and SNAI2, SUZ12, HDAC1, JAK2 and p-STAT3 expression, and patients with low expression of miR-204-5p and high expression of its targets showed the poorest prognosis in HNSCC. Here, SNAI2 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.